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Blog Posts for CMU Journalism Classes

Keeping it in the “Farm” Family

Matt Cary makes a call in regards to a part for the water run off they are fixing by the feedlot, on September 27, 2016.

Jake Carey (left) and Ben Malkovich, a farmhand, (right) work together in one of the sheds on September 23, 2016

Jake Cary, left, and his sister, Stacey Jenkins talk about finances after lunch, on September 20, 2016. Stacey is involved in managing the bills of the farm, unlike her brothers who works hands on with the farm.

The Cary Pioneer Farm through a truck window during chopping of corn , on September 23, 2016. This showcases the old and the new crops and how that represents the old and the changes in the farm since 1944.

Wendy Cary prepares food for lunch, that they call “noon dinner” or her husbands and sons, on September 26, 2016.

(from left to right), Jake Cary and Matt Cary eat “noon dinner” with their parents Wendy Cary and Scott Cary in Alma, Mich, September 20, 2016. “I always eat lunch at my mom’s house. My wife works off the farm, so it doesn’t make much sense to eat alone,” stated Jake.

Jake Cary leaves the main work shed for the start to a day on the farm, on September 23, 2016. “Farming is in the blood, it is hard to get rid of it,” states Jake.

For 72 years Cary’s Pioneer Farm has been handed down from family member to family member. The farm was started in 1944 as a dairy farm but switched into a feedlot in 1992. Currently, the farm is run by brothers, Jake and Matt Cary, with their father Scott Cary. As a feedlot, the farm buys and sells steers (non-dairy cattle) for beef. The farm has over 300 steers.

The farm is not just run by the men themselves but from finances from their sister, Stacey Jenkins, and help from multiple outside people, plus the youngest generations of Cary children. This farm is “managed by all of us” states Jake Cary. There is so much work that goes into farm life. “Communication is key to a successful business of any kind,” Jake explains.

The Cary family primarily spend their time together on the farm. Jake implied that this is because they all work together five days a week, the weekend is basically a time for them to go to their separate families. Scott Cary and his wife, Wendy, live on the farm in the house that has been continuously passed down and Matt Cary also lives on the farm. Jake, lives a mile up the road, but it doesn’t infringe on his farm career.

The Cary’s have some traditions within their family. First is “noon dinner”, or lunch, Wendy Cary cooks a huge meal with more than enough dishes for her, Scott, Matt and Jake every day during the week. This is one of the primary times that the brothers and their parents spend together when they are a hundred percent working. Another tradition the Cary’s have is that every Sunday or so the whole family, all generations, get together with Scott’s mother for pizza and all hang out together. This is an amazing way to stay connected as a family outside of farm life. According to Jake “farming is in the blood it is hard to get rid of it.”